OBX, Day 6: homeward bound

Well, that's it. We're home. And I've already started on the laundry. :)

Yesterday was our last day of vacation, and consisted mostly of traveling. Therefore, it's not a terrifically exciting story. We checked out of the hotel, loaded up the car and drove to Norfolk. We stopped for lunch on the way, and dealt with H's somewhat snippy attitude. We think this was a combination of 1) being bummed that vacation was almost over; 2) being tired; and 3) dreading the plane ride.

We'd planned to kill some time in Norfolk because our flight wasn't until nearly 6:00, but H fell asleep right when we got into the city, so we felt like we should just drive around and let her sleep (see "snippy attitude," above). I managed to figure out how to use the Maps app on my phone to get directions, so we just drove around for awhile. We drove by the Battleship Wisconsin, which looked impressive. There was a big waterfront shopping district that also looked interesting, but we didn't stop. I got the impression that downtown Norfolk is kind of a neat place.

We headed for the airport and considered stopping at the Norfolk Botanical Garden, but decided it wasn't worth $20 to kill just an hour and a half or so. We just returned the car instead and headed for the airport terminal. H had definitely perked up and returned to her usual sunny self by then, so we were all in a better mood. H and B went to explore the airport a bit while I sat with our many bags, and they returned with Starburst and chocolate chip cookies. :)

After we checked in, H found a little play area and made a new friend in the playhouse. It turned out she and her family were on our flight back, so they also got to hang out a bit at the gate. H had bad memories of her ears popping on the first flight, so she started whimpering before we even got on the plane. After we were seated (in a nice, new plane, actually), she kept up a steady stream of crying and saying, "I want to get off, I want to get off." I explained we couldn't get off because the plane was thousands of feet in the air, but this didn't seem to help. Neither did cookies and a whole lot of Starburst. Our theory is that the IDEA of her ears popping was worse than they actually felt, because my ears weren't that bad and I have terrible airplane ears. I let H sit in my lap when the seatbelt light went off, and did a totally mean mom thing and told her if she cried anymore I was going to make her sit back in her seat. However, it worked. I could handle the whimpering and being unhappy, but there was just no call for crying. After awhile, I think she realized her ears actually were okay, and she sit back in her seat and colored and had a fairly good time. Big props go to B for distracting her and making her laugh on the flight. We told her that she'd have to get used to flying, because if you want to go anywhere really cool, you usually have to fly there. I think she's resigned to it. In fact, while we were landing, my ears were the worst they were on the entire flight, and H didn't seem bothered at all! We were totally perplexed. See? Happy:


We'd made reservations with a car service to bring us home from the airport, and they sent a stretch limo! So we ended our vacation in style. H kept saying, "Why are we riding in this very long car?" I think she thought it was pretty cool.

Oh yeah, and I need to write the Official List of Atchison Outer Banks Vacation Quotes. So, here it is:

1) Arp Weefee! (Still hilarious, and I don't care what anybody says.)
2) "It's not a bear butt, it's a dog butt!" (This takes explanation. I told H I saw her bare butt after a bath one night, but she was pretending to be a dog at the time, so she corrected me.)
3) "Sorry, we're out of velociraptors. I only had one and somebody took it!" (See the family blog for explanation.)
4) Pool Weefee! (Seen on some other hotel marquees.)
5) "The kite is gonna hit that cloud! I'm just joking!" (H likes flying kites.)
6) "I don't want to go in the water!" (Guess who said that one...a lot.)

And that's that. We had a great time. Now we have to think about where we want to go next. H suggested India, but we think that might be a bit expensive... :)

OBX, Day 5: NC Aquarium, souvenirs & Tropical Storm Danny wimps out

This was our last day in the Outer Banks. :(

Because we'd basically done everything we wanted to do, we got a nice, lazy start to today. We didn't even leave the room till after lunch time (well, I went to the lobby to get breakfast, and B had to make a potato chip run, but other than that...). This about sums up the morning: I read, B did stuff on the computer, and H painted in her new paint with water book. It was quite nice. :)

Today was another blazing hot day, and there was a chance of rain, so we thought indoor activities were in order. We decided to go to the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, and it was so worth it! It was a neat place, and we got to see lots of the fish and other animals that are native to this area up close. We especially enjoyed looking at the turtles. (Picture to be added later. The aarp weefee connection is very slow tonight.)

H really liked the sharks, and I have to admit, they were pretty cool. She stood right next to the glass of their tank and talked to them as they swam past: "Hey you shark! Hey, big shark!" They did not seem to pay much attention, but she also didn't seem to care. I think she just liked looking at all the different kinds of fish - especially the big ones. I liked the river otters. There were some cool snakes there, too. I think B just liked watching me and H look at everything. We did get to touch stingrays (well, I did), and there was also a tank where you could touch starfish, sea urchins and hermit crabs. H stuck her hands right in both tanks, which I found amusing; I mean, she refuses to walk in water even with water shoes on, but she will plunge both hands right into a tank with swimmy/crawly/spiny things in it. Weird.

We finished our trip to the aquarium in the gift shop, where we got H a big stuffed shark. She named it...Shark. I was hoping for something more creative, but whatever. We brought him back to the hotel, where he met Chilly the penguin, and they seem to be getting along fine. H also introduced Shark to Leap and Tad the toy turtles, but he tried to eat them, so I'm not sure that relationship is going to pan out very well. Leap and Tad kept having to hide in their shells because, as H put it, "The shark wants to eat their squishy bodies, but he doesn't want to eat their shells."

After the aquarium, it was still too hot to do anything outside (we briefly mentioned Festival Park, but decided we'd had enough of being sweaty on this trip), so we set off to go souvenir shopping. We learned that one of the difficulties with being from a major metropolitan area is that none of the malls around are very interesting, because you can get any of that stuff at home without having to worry about going over the weight limit with your suitcase. Still, we found a good store with lots of OBX stuff, so B got a hooded sweatshirt. Then we headed back to Kitty Hawk Kites, where we'd seen some T-shirt possibilities for me and H during the week. I got a long-sleeved Life is Good T-shirt with the Cape Hatteras lighthouse on it, and H got one that says, "I climbed Jockey's Ridge." I think all of us liked that spot best out of all the places we went on this trip.

This evening we went to someplace called Miller's for dinner, after our third unsuccessful attempt at Tortuga's Lie. I don't know what time you have to get to that place to get a parking spot, but it's just going to have to wait till our next trip out here. We also drove by Carolina Seafood, and it, too, had no available parking. It was a little humorous, actually, because we just kept driving up and down the same road, looking for a restaurant that a) looked good and b) had parking. Miller's ended up being a good choice. H said they had good applesauce, AND you get a whole basket of hush puppies with your dinner. I love hush puppies dearly. B and H liked them, too.

After dinner and a bath for H, we played two more games of Kids of Carcassonne, then we ate popcorn and rocked out to music for awhile on B's iPod. H invented a new dance we're calling the Postage Stamp, since it looked like she was licking a stamp when she did it. It is hard to describe, but believe me when I tell you it was hilarious.

We all agreed we've had an awesome vacation, and the best part was getting to spend so much time together. It has been blissful. I'm sorry it's almost over.

Tomorrow is a travel day...let's hope it goes smoothly!

OBX, Day 4: more beach, more sand dunes, more kite flying, mini golf & Tropical Storm Danny Watch continues

Today was a fairly lazy day where we still did a lot of stuff.

One of my favorite things about vacation is not having to hear an alarm clock. Who cares what time we wake up? This morning I woke up to the sound of H talking to herself in her bed. Much better than a dumb alarm clock.

After breakfast, we played two more games of Kids of Carcassonne. I won one and B and H tied for the other one (which H helpfully pointed out meant that I had NOT won that one). Then, we headed back to the beach. I made a sand castle that I was fairly proud of (below), and I took a picture of it before H came through and stomped it. (This is her favorite part of building sand castles.) B found a couple more cool shells. We hung out. H still refused to go near the water...we tried to bribe her into putting her toes in, but no go. It didn't seem worth it to try to force the issue. It would ruin the vacation vibe.

After the beach, it was time once again for baths and showers for all - especially H who, as previously mentioned, would not go in the water, so she was covered head to toe in a thin layer of sand. After cleaning up and eating lunch, we proceeded to sit around in our room for an hour or so. I read my book and posted yesterday's recap. H played games on my iPhone (she's addicted). B looked up stuff about Tropical Storm Danny. I know that makes for a really boring story, but honestly, just sitting around is so great.

In the afternoon, we went to play mini golf, and we all got holes in one! Even H got one, and it was on a tough hole, too. I actually got TWO holes in one (and dominated the game), but I am trying not to gloat. :) H and I both did "hole in one" dances (that's her in mid-dance at left)...but now that I think about it, B didn't do one. We should've made him. Anyway, it was fun, but pretty hot again this afternoon, so after mini golf we needed ice cream. This made H very happy. The Dairy Queen was in the same building as an arcade, so we wandered over there and they had my favorite arcade game - it's like those claw games but with plastic toys, so it is really easy to win. (This is the same kind of machine they had at the bouncy house place where we had my 30th birthday party, where I won my current collection of dinosaurs, orcas and unicorns.) I won two turtles for H. She spent the rest of the day playing with them. She named them Leap and Tad, after the frogs in the Leap Frog toys.

The weather started to cool off a bit after ice cream, so we went back to Jockey's Ridge State Park (still our favorite spot from vacation) to fly H's penguin kite again. The wind was perfect - the kite flew higher than it's ever flown before! I actually remarked to B that I couldn't figure out what makes flying a kite so fun, but it really is. H had a great time running around on the sand dune and drawing shapes and lines. It was just so relaxing, with not a ton of people around. We all love that place. We even got to see some people taking hang gliding lessons.

Dinner tonight was at a place called Jockey's Ribs, and it was great. Much more family-friendly atmosphere than the place we went last night (which we chose because it advertised its "extensive children's menu," but when we got there it was all quiet and had a lot of glassware). I had shrimp and lump crab meat (a great invention - crab without all the work), B had ribs, and H had two bites of cheese pizza. I think she wasn't that hungry, and also preferred to play with Leap and Tad the turtles.

Tomorrow is our last full day in the Outer Banks. It's looking like Tropical Storm Danny might not cause too much of a problem, but of course we're keeping an eye on things. We do officially have a Tropical Storm Watch here now...which sounds like they don't expect it to be too bad. Luckily, we've really done all the things we wanted to do, so we're just planning to do some souvenir shopping and maybe find something else to do that's indoors in case it rains. The weirdest thing about tropical storms/hurricanes, at least to someone who doesn't regularly have to deal with them, is that you get DAYS of notice. This is, of course, useful if you're someone who might have to board up your house and flee...but when you're used to sudden summer storms where you have to hustle for cover, having days to wait to find out what the storm is going to do is sort of strange. It's like stretching out your storm freak-out...you just want someone to say something definitive and get on with it! However, having notice is certainly better than not having notice. We're going to be watching the weather closely tomorrow, since if Danny affects this area, they expect it to be tomorrow night/Saturday morning. Guess we'll see.

I love vacation. The thought of going back to work is just...meh. Woo! Vacation forever!

OBX, Day 3: Roanoke Island, Cape Hatteras, Tropical Storm Danny Watch, scallops

This post is a day late because last night we had wifi issues at the hotel.

Which reminds me of the funniest thing, and I know it's not going to translate properly in this medium, but I'm giving it a go anyway. So, at our hotel, they offer an AARP discount. they also have free wifi. On the marquee outside, it says, "AARP WIFI" on one line. B pronounced this "Arp Weefee" and said it sounded like a singer from the 50s, and I cannot stop laughing about how funny "Arp Weefee" sounds! I'm laughing right now. Yesterday I was driving when he said it and I almost had to pull over because I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Anyway.

Yesterday we started the day by talking about Tropical Storm Danny, which is really threatening to put a damper on the end of our vacation. We are monitoring it closely. Right now it looks like we're just going to be dealing with rain and isolated storms. The latest news says it's tracking farther East than they originally thought, so we might not have a big problem with it. It could pose a challenge for our flight home on Saturday, but we're just going to have to wait and see. Yesterday and today are beautifully sunny and hot...so who knows.

Anyway, we drove to Roanoke Island yesterday to visit the Elizabethan Gardens, which were quite nice, but hot and full of mosquitoes. H got two bites, I got about ten, and B got zero. He never has trouble with mosquitoes. Still, the gardens were very pretty. They gave H a little worksheet with pictures of a bunch of things she could look for in the gardens, and she had a good time circling the things she saw with a tiny pencil. Fort Raleigh is right next to the gardens, so we checked that out, but it was sort of anticlimactic. The "fort" is a pile of dirt with grass growing on it, and putting up a sign that says "Fragile Earthenworks" does not convince me that it is more interesting. It was an old pile of dirt. But that's fine, because it was free.

We had some time after the gardens and fort (we'd expected to spend more time there, but it was just too hot yesterday to be outside too long), so we decided to drive to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. We'd been planning to do that today, but figured we'd go ahead and do it in case we had tropical storm issues. H slept most of the way there (it took over an hour to drive out that far), but that was probably a good thing. She's been staying up late every night, so a little nap couldn't hurt. The drive was beautiful, and the lighthouse was cool. We got H a coloring book and crayons at the lighthouse so she'd have something to do on the drive back, and we all had to get snacks because we were hungry.

We'd planned to eat dinner at a restaurant called Tortuga's Lie, which a friend recommended to me, but by the time we got there it was completely packed and there wasn't even anywhere to park! So, we're going to try to go there for an early dinner tonight to see if we have any better luck. We ate at a place called Port O'Call instead, which was pretty good. I ate scallops and they were delightful. H had a hot dog with no bun, and B had shrimp fettucine alfredo. (Not that anyone cares what we ate, but food is important to me.)

We didn't get back to our room till about 9 o'clock, but H really wanted to play the new game we brought with us, so we did that. It's called Kids of Carcassonne and it's very fun. Very age-appropriate for her, since she seemed to pick up on it fairly quickly. I think we played about three games, and then it was time for bed. She liked it so much that we had to play two more games this morning. :)

And that's it for Day 3.

Everybody cross your fingers that Danny stays out of our way, the punk.

OBX, Day 2: sand, kite, sand, ocean, pizza

I'm tired!

Today started in my favorite way: sleeping in. I was the first one up, and I woke up at 8:30. I decided to hustle and get ready so I could grab breakfast for us before the free breakfast at the hotel closed. They have waffles!

H has really been looking forward to flying her penguin kite, so we decided to do that after breakfast. B checked the beach and it was crowded, so we drove back to the Jockey Ridge State Park to climb some sand dunes and fly the kite there. It didn't feel very windy, but we were able to fly the kite, which made all of us happy. :) (Funny - trying to fly a kite in the same sort of wind at home would've never worked...because there's too much stuff to block it!) I think the sand dunes are our favorite vacation spot so far. H said this was her favorite part of the day.

After climbing sand dunes and kite-flying, we were hungry and thirsty. (Lesson One for today: when one will be climbing giant sand dunes, one should remember to bring water.) We came back to the hotel to make a quick lunch. This was one of our strokes of genius for this vacation, as eating sandwiches in the room is not only cheaper, but also quicker than eating out. H had also been begging to go to the beach and make sand castles, so we decided to do that after lunch.

The great surprise of the day is that, in a family of non-beachgoers (none of us like water all that much, and at least two-thirds of us do not much care for wearing swimsuits), we had an awesome time. I think we spent about two hours hanging out on the beach. B and I walked in the water (B found some extremely cool seashells), but H wouldn't go near it. We were forced, instead, to bring buckets of the ocean up to where she was playing in the sand so that she could at least stick her hands in the water and rinse off before we came back inside. This kid does not enjoy water. Period. It even took some convincing before she believed that the water was not going to come up to where she was. But we all had fun building sand castles (B kept building some closer to the water to see how long it would take for a wave to knock them down). I was proud that none of us got sunburned (although Lesson Two for the day is that you don't fully appreciate how effective sunscreen is until you see the weird random sunburned patch that you missed when applying...I have one on my leg and B has one on his back).

After beach time, H was covered with sand, and since she refused to go in the water she went into the bathtub instead. We had some downtime in the hotel room, then decided to go to the Wright Brothers Memorial. It's right down the street from our hotel, and we feel a special kinship with Wilbur, since he was born in the county where B and I are from. We learned that while Orville gets the credit for the first powered flight, Wilbur had the longest flight of the day. We also learned that the memorial tower is at the top of a giant hill for no apparent reason (the park rangers say it's because it's where the Wright brothers would've built it if they'd had the choice, but nobody knows that, and I think it was just to torture poor tourists into walking up a giant hill). Though it was a tiring climb, and H spent part of it on B's shoulders and part of it riding on my back, the view was worth it. I'm glad we did it...but it was probably a bit more difficult since we'd already spent the morning climbing sand dunes! (Lesson Three for the day: when planning to climb up a big hill to look at a memorial tower, also bring water.)

Dinner tonight was at a little local pizza place down the street from our hotel, which was quite good. I joked that it was our duty as pseudo-Chicagoans to check out pizza places in other markets to make sure ours were still the best. :) However, this was my one night off from seafood. I'm committed to eating lots of seafood for the rest of the trip.

Tomorrow I think we're going to try to head to Roanoke Island...although we might change our minds and decide to do something else. Whatever. Woo! Vacation!

OBX, Day 1: first flight & sand dunes

Woo! Vacation!

That is the official Family Vacation Cry, and the three of us have been chanting it all day. We are in the Outer Banks and already having a great time. It was H's first time on a plane - and her ears were just as bad as we thought they would be, despite Benadryl and cookies and apple juice and a very sweet flight attendant who offered all kinds of help. But we all got through it. Before her ears started popping, she was having a rockin' time on the plane - especially when we flew through a cloud on our way up! She kept giggling and going, "Whoa!" and staring out the window. At one point she even held up her stuffed penguin, Chilly, so he could see the view from the plane, too. I think she probably loved 50% of the plane trip and then didn't like 50% because of her ears.

We flew into Norfolk and then drove down to the Outer Banks. H fell asleep in the car practically before we'd left the airport. She thought it was very funny that we "borrowed" a car (I don't think she understands "rent" yet). I was just impressed that a mid-sized car has more cargo space than my SUV does...but it's good because at least all of our luggage fit.

Aside, before I forget: H has been singing, "We're on vacation! We're on vacation!" and "Outer Banks! Outer Banks!" all day today. It is adorable. I don't think I've ever seen anybody so excited to go on vacation, which is funny because she didn't even really know what vacation was before this. I doubt she's able to remember the last family vacation we took three years ago.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled story. We got to our hotel, checked in and headed down to the beach so we could all get a look at the ocean. H is adamant that she will not be going in the water, which is okay...I think she would like to live in the sand, so we'll just do that instead. We made a stop at the grocery store after dinner (we have a suite with a kitchenette), and while we were there we picked up a few beach toys to aid in the construction of sand castles. :)

We went to a local restaurant for dinner, where I had the first of what I think will be several consecutive seafood dinners. Then B drove us around for awhile so we could check out the area, and we happened upon a state park that's full of sand dunes. B thought we should stop (he's much better at spontaneous vacation stuff than I am), so we did, and it was the best part of the day! H had an awesome time running up and down the dunes, and we got to see lots of people flying kites! We're going back sometime while we're here so we can try to fly H's penguin kite. She's very excited about that. I don't think I've ever seen her so happy...just being able to run around someplace new, watch the sun set over a "hill made of sand" and get dirty. Must be heaven when you're 4. I have to say B and I were pretty happy, too. :)

The point of this vacation was to go somewhere relaxing and just BE for several days...and I think we are off to a good start. Tomorrow I think our plans consist entirely of the following: 1) breakfast; 2) kite flying on the beach; 3) lunch; 4) Wright Brothers Memorial; 5) dinner. Probably enough for one day.

I blame Facebook

I haven't posted anything at all to my blog in weeks, but I've checked Facebook pretty much every day. In my defense, I've been really busy, and I also don't think anybody really misses my blog posts, as I have approximately 5 regular readers (Hi, Mom).

So, for an update, here are some random thoughts:

I finished the spring semester at school last night (goodbye, boring PR class), and I start my summer class tomorrow. The summer class is an accelerated course, which means it will be a brutal amount of work but that it will also be short (over at the end of June). This means I still get two months off before starting the fall semester. Also, there is no required textbook AND there are no tests, and the prof's syllabus is even funny - so I'm feeling pretty good about this class already. I'm so glad my classes this past semester were pretty easy; I remember how burned out I felt last year at this time, and I can't imagine what it would have been like trying to start a new class two days after finishing those courses. This time, though, it doesn't feel like a very big deal.

I spent some significant time at work today getting a handle on my travel schedule for the summer. I figured out I have three trips in May (two still to go), two in June, three in July, two in August...and that's just for now. There's more to come. It's insane and causes me exceptional guilt and stress, but I'm glad to at least have a job that I like most of the time.

The Wii Fit I got for Mother's Day talks about people behind their backs. When I got on it today, it asked me how I thought Brock was looking lately. I think it might have a crush on him. Also, I don't like its superior tone. I have decided that because it a) doesn't know how delightful chocolate chip cookies taste and b) doesn't even have legs, there is no way for it to possibly know what it's like to be me, so it should just keep its thoughts to itself! It said I've lost seven-tenths of a pound this week, and it seemed completely unimpressed. However, today I unlocked boxing, and that was pretty fun.

The new Green Day Album, 21st Century Breakdown, is awesome. I am extremely bummed I can't go to their concert in Chicago...but I'll be at a trade show in Ohio instead. :( At least Brock gets to go!

This weekend, our goal is to get our hotel and airfare booked for our summer vacation. I'd like to be locked in so we know we're going! Also, we don't think airfare is going to get any cheaper.

I am sleepy. Time to go to bed.

That's enough London...

So...we're back. We've actually been back for a week, and I can't believe it's already been a whole week since I was in London. Back to reality, I guess. That's the worst part of vacation - when it's over. Although this time, it was okay that vacation was over because we both missed Hannah.

Our flight home from London last Tuesday was wonderfully uneventful. The only glitch was when Brock unknowingly bought carbonated water in the vending machine in the gate waiting area, and we both almost gagged when we tried it. The bottle said it was something like "England's preferred water" or "famous water" or something, but it was disgusting. Water is supposed to be still. If it's carbonated, you're supposed to add a bunch of high fructose corn syrup and carmel color so you get a nice Coke. That's just the way it is.

Anyway, I didn't sleep on the plane home at all, because it was during the middle of the day, so I read half a novel and watched Hairspray on the little in-flight entertainment thing. I liked Hairspray, although John Travolta as a very large woman is a disturbing thing. Very disturbing. They did feed us lunch and dinner, though, and both were pretty good, so I didn't have any complaints about the flight.

The best part about coming home was seeing Hannah. :) Brock's parents were wonderful and drove her home for us, so she was here when we got home from the airport. She yelled, "Mommy!" and gave me the biggest hug ever! She kept randomly hugging both of us for the rest of the evening. And she'd go, "That's my dad! Do you see Hannah's dad over there?" It was pretty cute, and nice to know that she missed us even though she had fun while we were gone. We're still working on backing off on some of the extra-demanding attitude she seems to have developed while we were in London, but otherwise we're pretty much back to normal.

And then Wednesday it was back to work, which felt weird. I mean, the first day after vacation is always weird, but it was odd sitting at my desk and thinking, "Just yesterday I was in London." We have to go back sometime. :)

Thursday I came down with an awful cold, which I still have, which made it definitely feel like vacation was over. I kept joking that I got the plague from all those medieval buildings we were in, but I'm pretty sure it was just the 8+ hours of recirculated air on the plane. Whatever.

When's the next vacation? I'm ready!

London: Big Finish

It was our last day in London today, and it was a big one. Here's what we did:

• Houses of Parliament/Big Ben
• Westminster Abbey
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Tried (and failed) to see the Temple of Mithras
• Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
• Harrod's

We got started fairly early and made it out of the hotel by 9:30. We stopped to buy a muffin for me and a Coke for Brock, and then we walked to the Houses of Parliament. We didn't go in, but Brock got some really nice pictures. It's funny; I thought I'd kind of gotten used to seeing Big Ben off in the distance, but up close it is really spectacular. There's not a square inch (or centimeter or whatever) on the whole Houses of Parliament that doesn't have some kind of detail going on. I told Brock I thought it was from the "more is more" school of architecture, but that sort of sums up London, really.

Westminster Abbey is right across the street from Parliament, and we were both really excited about going there. I wrote in my journal that the weight of history there is overwhelming, and it really is...I mean, you're walking where people have walked for centuries, and every place you turn is a tomb or monument to some fantastically famous person from the past. It was a little awkward...at first I tried to avoid walking on the tombs, but it's sort of impossible. So, sorry famous dead people buried in Westminster Abbey. I tried.

Anyway, Westminster Abbey was by far my favorite stop on this entire trip. It's totally Gothic and spectacularly beautiful, and I still sort of can't believe I saw where Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots and Henry VIII and all these other people I've read about in books are buried. We got the audio tour, and I'm so glad, because without it I don't think I would have known where to look or what I was looking at half the time. It's really too bad you can't take pictures inside, although of course I understand why. One of the sort of amusing things to see there was "the oldest door in Britain," which dates from 1050 (!). We also saw the room where they used to keep the country's gold standard, which I think was from around 1090. I just can't believe I was walking around someplace that's been around for almost 1,000 years. Whoa.

After the Abbey, we got on the Tube and made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral. We stopped for lunch at a pizza place across the street, and Brock gave me a hard time because I was teasing him for considering pizza for lunch yesterday (given that we're from one of the world's great pizza-eating regions). However, today pizza sounded good, so it wasn't silly anymore. :)

St. Paul's is also beautiful and amazing, with the added dimension of being really tiring. We climbed all 530 very tight, mostly spiraling steps to see the Whispering Gallery, the Stone Gallery and then the Golden Gallery all the way at the top. It was worth it, but if you had a vertigo problem you'd never make it! The views were awesome and again, Brock took some great pictures. Like the Abbey, you can't take pictures inside, so we just bought a bunch of post cards and a snow globe for Hannah.

After that, we attempted to find the Temple of Mithras, but we're pretty sure it was obscured in a construction area so we didn't get to see it. We walked all around, but didn't find anything that looked remotely like the ruins of an ancient Persian god. Just a lot of cranes and large construction equipment. Bummer.

Next up was a walk across the Thames to go to the Globe Theatre, which was a little touristy but worth the trip. We had a nice tour and learned that they built the theatre using Elizabethan materials and methods, which was one of the reasons it took so long to construct. I'm sure that builders in Elizabethan times knew just what to do with plaster that had cow's hair in it, but I imagine modern tradesmen had some trouble dealing with it. :)

Then we had to walk over to the London Bridge Tube station, and I got a little wiggy because we got out of the bustling tourist areas and into some quieter parts of town...Brock pointed out that I should probably be more nervous IN the busy tourist areas, but I generally feel more comfortable knowing I'm among bunches of other people who also "aren't from around here" and probably don't know where they're going any better than I do.

We took the Tube to Harrod's, mostly because I just wanted to see it since it's so famous. It is huge and overwhelming, and I don't see how people normally shop there. We didn't buy anything because it was already expensive, and the exchange rate is awful. We did, however, stumble across the Chocolate Bar, where I had the very best hot chocolate I have ever had in my life. It was "Italian hot chocolate" and was just dark chocolate and cream. It was very thick and very rich and very delicious. That perked me up, because I was getting pretty tired by that point and my feet had started tingling from all the walking. We did find Toy World on the fourth floor, and I took a picture of Brock with a giant crocodile hand puppet.

After that, it was back toward the hotel. We stopped for some "take away" dinner and then came back to the hotel to put our feet up. We ended up going out again for a short time to check out the London souvenir shop around the corner, but it was all pretty cheesy tourist stuff. I mean, if you know someone who collects teapots or something, it's fine, but otherwise there's not much reason to bother.

So...tomorrow we're heading home. It's been a wonderful trip, and I can't think of a single thing I want to do that we haven't done. If we had more time here I'm sure we could explore much more, but we managed to pack a whole bunch of really cool stuff into three days. And I miss Hannah, so I'm looking forward to seeing her tomorrow and giving her the souvenirs we bought for her. Hopefully she a) remembers who we are and b) isn't too mad that we left her.

More observations:

• I'm not sure why, but every time you order a Coke in a restaurant they put a slice of lemon in it. I like lemon in Coke, but it's different. As a side note, Coke in Europe is YUMMY because they put real sugar in it. But like Brock says, you definitely feel like you have to brush your teeth afterward.
• Brock's sense of direction and map-reading abilities are mind-boggling. I would literally have been lost without him, because I have no sense of direction whatsoever. He just walks around like he knows exactly where he's going. We never got lost once.
• I really wish I had a British accent. Everyone here sounds SO COOL. I was sort of thinking in a British accent after awhile, but I tried to make myself stop because it even sounded silly in my head. *chuckle*
• Avoid the Tube at rush hour. It is quite overwhelming.

London is my kind of town. :)

London, Day 2

I LOVE London.

Today's highlights included:

• King's Cross Station - Platform 9 3/4
• Lunch with Andy
• Covent Garden
• The National Gallery
• Buckingham Palace
• The London Eye

We started off a little later than we'd expected, since we slept about 12 hours last night. We were really tired and jet-lagged, I guess. Anyway, we made our way to King's Cross (using the trusty Tube) so I could get my picture taken at Platform 9 3/4. Since there's really not a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, as it says in the Harry Potter books, the brilliant people at King's Cross just made Platform 9 3/4 out of a nearby wall. There's even a "trolley" sticking halfway out of it, which I thought was clever. So Brock took my picture looking like I was trying to make it on the Hogwarts Express:

We had a little break back at the hotel, then Andy, whom Brock knows from the online game he plays and who lives about 2 hours away, came to meet us for lunch. He and Brock had never met in person, so that was cool. He was very nice and even treated us to lunch at a yummy Italian restaurant (thanks, Andy!). Then he showed us around Covent Garden, which is a really fun shopping district that hadn't even been on our list of things to see, so that was a good treat. There were several very interesting street performers there. :)

After Covent Garden, Andy left, and Brock and I went to the National Gallery. If you were really, really into art, that place would be heaven, but Brock and I know just enough to appreciate most of it, so we were able to see all we wanted to see in just a couple of hours. It was cool seeing such old, famous paintings, though. Our favorite was a "cartoon" (drawing made prior to making an actual painting) by Leonardo da Vinci. Neither one of us can really articulate why. It was just really cool. And we saw paintings by Michaelangelo, Renoir, van Eyck, Monet, van Gogh and a bunch of other famous guys.

We took a break in the Gallery's cafe after that for some treats and a rest. Brock had chocolate cake, and I had treacle tart. I got it because I read about it in Harry Potter. I didn't know what it really was. Actually, even after eating a whole slab of treacle tart, I still wasn't sure what it was, but it was tasty. (Later, on the phone with my parents, my dad looked it up and said it's molasses, which makes sense in retrospect. For some reason, while I was eating it I thought it sort of tasted like a lemon bar.)

After the Gallery, we walked through St. James's Park (I would have skipped the second s, but that's how it's written on our London map) to go to Buckingham Palace. It was very pretty and peaceful, even though it was dark by that point. The Palace looked very pretty all lit up. It's hard to believe people live there. I think it would be very weird having people outside your home taking pictures all day. Of course, it would also be weird having a monument to Queen Victoria in your front yard, so I guess I can't really relate to the royal family at all. Anyway, it was neat.

And our last stop of the day (after another rest period - our legs were getting tired) was the absolute coolest: we rode the London Eye! Wow, was that awesome. Even though it was dark (because we just couldn't fit in riding it in the daylight, especially since it gets dark at like 4:00), the views of the city were spectacular. Brock got some really good pictures. And since it wasn't at all crowded, there were only about eight people in our carriage/pod thing and we had plenty of room to walk around and check out the views. It was a little scary if you looked down or up too much, but if you just looked straight out, it was great. My favorite thing we did today, definitely. :)

We did call home to see how Hannah was doing. She was taking a nap, so we didn't get to talk to her, but she apparently thinks I'm at work and hasn't asked about Brock yet. So I guess she's having fun. She also said she wants to go to London. We'll definitely have to bring her someday...after our bank account has a chance to recover.

Some observations:

• American credit card technology is pretty far behind the times, it seems. Everyone's card here has some special chip in it, and they don't have to sign for anything. (This confused the clerk at King's Cross when we were buying snacks today, because Brock's primitive American card doesn't have a chip.) Also, when you pay with your card at a restaurant, they bring a little card reader right to your table, and you can punch in the tip yourself. They don't have to take your card anywhere.
• Today's Fun British Phrase is "Way Out." Nothing says "Exit" here; it's all "Way Out." I love that.
• I don't know how people drive in London. The streets are really small, and they don't make any sense, and there are a million giant double-decker buses to contend with. I'll stick to walking or the train, thank you.
• The light switches in our hotel room are backwards; you flip them down to turn them on. It also took me awhile to figure out how to work the hair dryer this morning because you have to hold a little trigger button to get it to work. This seemed unnecessary and also made my finger tired.
• Treacle tart is very yummy; no wonder Harry Potter likes it.

I can't believe tomorrow's already our last day...but we're having such a great time!!

LONDON, Baby, Yeah!

You're supposed to read the title of this post a la Austin Powers. Go ahead, read it again. :)

We're in London! Wahoo! So, that's my surprise vacation destination, and I still kind of can't believe it.

Today we got to our hotel about 1:00 local time, I think...and we're both tired, so we just went to see a few things this afternoon. We saw the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, and London Bridge (it's not falling down; it's also, unexpectedly, just a regular bridge), and we walked around Trafalgar Square for a bit. I had real English fish and chips for dinner (preserved for posterity in the photo here), which was AWESOME (but also not that much unlike fish and chips at home...except that these were in LONDON). Also, I found it funny that that tiny patch of green on my plate was considered a "mixed salad." It was like three lettuce leaves and a cucumber. I guess perhaps they're not so into the lettuce here.

Tomorrow, we're having lunch with one of Brock's friends, and I think we're going to check out the National Gallery. The National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery are really close to our hotel. When we were walking from the Underground station to our hotel, we saw Big Ben. I almost fainted. Okay, not really, but wow - that was the moment I really felt like I was in London.

My favorite phrase from today is, "Mind the gap." The recorded voice on the Tube says this at almost every stop, and it just makes me laugh. It's so British and polite to "mind the gap." We minded the gap very well and negotiated the Tube without any real trouble. Brock has this weirdly accurate, innate sense of direction that enabled us to find everything we were looking for, and once you find the right station, the train is pretty easy to figure out. You just have to mind the gap. :)

My husband is the best ever. Period.

Oh, my bags are packed...

...I'm ready to go...somewhere...

I can't believe I still don't know where we're going!!

I get one more hint tomorrow, and the last one on Thanksgiving. The good news (for me) is that I now get to find out where we're going before we get to the airport, because Brock wants to ask me some sort of mysterious question about the mysterious mystery place we're going on vacation.

But that means, as of now, I still don't know where we're going. I have to say, the suspense is really starting to get to me. :)

Surprise vacation

We are very, very near the departure date for our vacation. I haven't blogged about it at all, because frankly, I couldn't stand to think about it too much...I really need a vacation, and it seemed better not to get too worked up about it until it was almost time to go. But...it's almost here, and I am now not just daily, but basically hourly, bugging Brock to tell me where we're going. This is because he booked the trip in August and wants the destination to be a surprise! How cool and amazing is that? But it means I am in quite a lot of suspense. (Although, if you do happen to know where we're going, DON'T TELL ME. I love surprises and I don't want to ruin this one.)

I have gotten several clues:

• Brock knows someone who lives near our destination (not terribly helpful; he knows someone almost everywhere)
• He's never been there before
  
• It takes more than 2 hours to fly there
• It's not warm there
  
• It's not Las Vegas or Portland (long story about Portland, but I know it's not Portland)
• The people who live there have "distinctive accents"
• We're taking public transportation while we're there

So I figure it has to be a fairly large city, at least. There is a vocal contingent of people at work who are sure we're going to New York City, but I'm not completely sure about that - Brock used to know someone in New York, but she moved to Tokyo. Plus I think the person he knows who applies to this trip is a guy. And I don't think he knows any guys in New York, but I'm not certain. I really don't know where we're going, though.

I get my final clue on Thanksgiving...Brock says it will either be really helpful in narrowing things down, or it will totally confuse me.

This is way fun!